


Fervor

by snibnoom



Category: ASTRO (Band)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Minhyuk has a bad dream and Bin makes it better, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-26
Updated: 2019-01-26
Packaged: 2019-10-16 10:31:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17547995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snibnoom/pseuds/snibnoom
Summary: Bin woke up the first night to the sound of Minhyuk crying out, screaming for help.





	Fervor

Bin pulls Minhyuk against his chest as soon as he’s close enough to do so. Not yet lucid, Minhyuk resists for a moment before he grabs handfuls of Bin’s shirt and tugs him as close as he can get. Hot tears wet Bin's shirt as Minhyuk gasps and buries his face in the broad chest before him. He knows better than to ask questions immediately after Minhyuk wakes up from a nightmare. In the short year he’s known his roommate, he’s had to learn fast.

 

It was unusual at first. Bin woke up the first night to the sound of Minhyuk crying out,  _ screaming  _ for help. He stumbled into the other’s room to find him twisting in bed before he bolted awake. He yelled, accusing Bin of invading his privacy. He bunched the blankets against his chest and swatted at the empty air between them. Bin had returned to his room and found fitful sleep.

 

The second time was a week later. Bin woke to the same shouts of terror, but he stayed where he was. Irrationality told him he should check on Minhyuk because what if he was being murdered? Minhyuk went quiet. Bin strained to hear anything and he did—a quiet knock on his bedroom door. He opened it, finding Minhyuk with red eyes and a blanket around his shoulders. That night they’d Minhyuk had recounted how his apartment burned when he was a teenager and how the flames haunted his dreams.

 

“Everything is okay,” Bin whispers, rocking Minhyuk. “Just breathe.”

 

After the second time, Bin always ran to Minhyuk’s aid. Sometimes it was a couple nights in a row. Sometimes Minhyuk made no noise. Sometimes Bin never woke up but he would find Minhyuk curled against his chest in the early morning. Minhyuk had started going to therapy and it seemed to be working; the shouts of the young man who'd begun to steal his heart hadn't woken Bin in three months.

 

Minhyuk shakes as he cries in Bin’s arms, loud, ugly sobs wracking his body. Bin clenches his jaw and smooths Minhyuk’s hair. He wraps himself around Minhyuk as much as he can. His body is a shield unable to protect Minhyuk from the terrible memories of a fire that almost took his life.

 

“Everything is okay,” Bin repeats. “You’re safe. Take a deep breath, Minhyuk. Follow my lead.”

 

Minhyuk’s crying slows as Bin coaches him through breathing exercises he’d learned for this reason. He hiccups between breaths and his hands loosen on Bin’s shirt. Bin is patient. He rubs Minhyuk’s back and kisses his forehead. He gets Minhyuk’s water from his desk and fumbles with his phone to play some soft music. Minhyuk’s body relaxes. He shifts, laying between Bin’s legs with his head on his chest.

 

“Thanks,” Minhyuk mumbles, “for coming again.”

 

“I told you I always would.” Bin runs his fingers through Minhyuk’s hair, working through some light tangles. “Do you want to talk about it?”

 

Minhyuk hesitates. “It was the same as always. My brother screaming and the fire coming up under my bed and trapping me in place— my desk blocking my window and—”

 

He stops. Bin winds his fingers around Minhyuk’s, his thumb finding the scarring on Minhyuk’s palm as he always has.

 

“I could smell the smoke again.” Minhyuk moves higher, his head closer to Bin’s collarbone. “I swore I could feel the fire.” He shakes his head. “I wasn’t in danger. It was just a dream—a memory of what happened. But I’m okay now.”

 

“That’s right.” Bin kisses Minhyuk’s forehead, tasting the salt of dried sweat. “You’re okay now. That was a long time ago, and you’re getting better. Three months, Minhyuk. That’s a record.”

 

Minhyuk is quiet. His thumb traces over Bin’s finger. “You were there.”

 

Bin furrows his brows. “I was?”

 

Minhyuk nods. “You were standing outside my room. I wasn’t a kid in my dream— I mean, I was, and then I saw you and I wasn’t. You were waving me out of the room, but there was fire between us. It was getting harder to breathe and I was yelling to get me out of there, and you—” Minhyuk coughs, laughing a little. “You did. You ran through the fire.”

 

Bin smiles, squeezing Minhyuk’s hand. “I’ll rescue you even in your dreams.”

 

“That’s how I knew it was a dream. You got to me and you shielded me from the fire and then I woke up and you were here already.”

 

“That’s new, isn’t it? You never mentioned that I was in your dream before.”

 

Minhyuk nods, pulling away from Bin and sitting up. “Yeah, but no. You’ve, uh, been in my dreams before.” He looks at the bed, avoiding Bin’s eyes. “Usually kind of like that, showing up and hugging me or blocking me from something. Sometimes dream-you annoys dream-me because you get in the way of seeing something but it’s always something bad.”

 

Bin frowns. “You mean there are other nightmares?”

 

“Stupid stuff.” Minhyuk smiles at him, small under his large shirt and wide eyes. “A dog in a clown mask, or— or just stupid stuff. But you’re always there to protect me from it.”

 

“Hyuk—”

 

“Thank you.” Minhyuk looks away again. “You’re always around for me. I know it’s inconvenient because you lose sleep but I appreciate it. I’ve gotten a lot better since meeting you, better than I ever got between then and now.”

 

Bin can’t tell if Minhyuk is blushing, but he thinks he is. “You don’t have to thank me. Just keep getting better, okay?”

 

Minhyuk nods, a smile pulling his lips wide. “You’ll stay here tonight, right?”

 

“If you want me to.”

 

He nods again. “I do. Can we go to sleep?”

 

They settle in, Minhyuk nestled against Bin’s chest. Warmth radiates off Minhyuk and Bin suppresses a yawn. It takes hardly any time for Minhyuk’s breathing to even out, his chest rising and falling as he finds a, hopefully, dreamless sleep.

 

Bin stays awake for a while longer with heavy lids. Sometimes Minhyuk wakes up right away after going to sleep, gasping for breath as he grabs Bin. Bin wants to comfort Minhyuk through that, too, if it happens, but it doesn't. Bin tugs the blanket higher up Minhyuk's back before settling his chin on Minhyuk’s head and letting himself fall asleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Leave me a comment and let me know what you thought!
> 
> [@snibwrites](https://twitter.com/snibwrites) on Twitter!


End file.
